The telecom sector has had a tepid run in terms of employment this year and things are reported to have gotten worse in the last few months with about 25,000 employees being affected by the slowdown. While it has been said that more workers may face the axe, here comes a ray of hope.
US-based handset manufacturer InFocus plans to hire about 5,000 employees in India in 2018 and also aims to invest about $20 million (Rs 128 crore) for marketing and branding its products. Through the plan, InFocus plans to strengthen its hold on the market with a share of at least 5 percent, as opposed to the current 2 percent.
The brand, apart from focusing on bigger markets, also wants to test the waters in smaller cities and towns in India, which will help it grab a larger market share.
"We have brought big changes and we have a new team in place. The plan is to be more aggressive in the market," Luo Zhongsheng, the global CEO for Sharp and InFocus Mobile, told the Economic Times.
To build on this plans, InFocus will hire employees to aid its manufacturing process, and some of the workers will also be taken in its sales and marketing division. Not just that, some workers will also be appointed at its retail outlets to promote the brand.
In 2018, InFocus also intends to manufacture handsets through Foxconn, something it currently does through third-party manufacturers. "Our factory team is working on the same," Zhongsheng added, revealing that it is in discussion with Amazon to sell the devices on the platform.
"2018 will be an important year for us. We have brought big changes and we have a new team in place. The plan is to be more aggressive in the market," he explained.
InFocus is one of the well-known customers of Foxconn and the latter too had earlier said that it would expand its facility in Chennai, thereby creating about 5,000 jobs at the site in January 2018. It had also told the Tamil Nadu government that it has well-thought-out plans in the state and would create about 30,000 jobs in the next two-three years.
"We have granted approval for the 49-acre facility where already 7,000 employees are working. The company has said that it will invest around Rs 300 crore and will employ 5,000 more people in January," Business Standard quoted Tamil Nadu Industries Minister M C Sampath as saying earlier.
He also explained that the 30,000 jobs that the Chinese company has promised to create "is equal to the number of employees who worked in the Nokia facility in Sriperumbudur." The Nokia factory was shut down in 2014.
